Living a Different Dream
A car accident changed Natasha and Sergei's lives in 2001 when Natasha was left paralyzed. They spent a year and a half in and out of different hospitals, which opened their eyes to how difficult life was for people with disabilities in Ukraine.
This tragedy spoiled many of their dreams and plans for their future, but it became a new beginning for the dream that became Agape Center of Ukraine. Even though Natasha’s injury severe enough to keep her in a wheelchair for life, they were blessed with another son and started a ministry for people with disabilities in their local church. It began as a small physical therapy service in one little room in the church building. They encouraged church members to welcome people with disabilities into their community. God continued giving Sergei and Natasha a vision and blessing their efforts, and soon they began speaking at conferences and encouraging Christians to reach out and minister to people with disabilities across Ukraine and in Europe.
In 2016 Agape Center was born, a full-service center for rehabilitation of different physical injuries and a school which trains physical therapists while sharing God’s love with those who reside or study there. But then in 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and the dream changed again.
With the start of war in Ukraine, Sergei and Natasha partnered with Joni and Friends International Disability Center and other organizations to evacuate people with disabilities out of Ukraine to locations across Europe. They personally relocated to Germany with a group of 40 people where they live in the Christian Center. They have been caring for and encouraging Ukrainian refugees with disabilities living abroad for two years now. There are currently 12 different groups of people scattered across Germany, Switzerland and Netherlands.
Even while living through their own crisis, Sergei and Natasha have not stopped serving the Lord in the ministry He has given them. The Agape Center has organized several camps for Ukrainian refugees over the last two summers, retreats for wounded warriors in Ukraine and a leadership training/retreat in Europe. ReachGlobal actively participated in this camp ministry before and especially since the war started. You may remember when Crisis Response staff went to Switzerland to provide trauma care debriefing and training for the leaders of these communities.
When summer comes it will be more than two years that so many families have been living away from their homes and in a communal environments. Sergei and Natasha have dreamed, even before the war, of taking their people to the Black Sea, since many of them had never left their hometowns, never had their kids swim in the ocean. Now more than ever, these families need a break and need encouragement; they need to know that they are not forgotten. God still sees them and cares for them.
So Sergei and Natasha found a Christian camp in Croatia on the coast where they would like to take families to rest, get refreshed, and get counselling. ReachGlobal is partnering with Agape Center to help make this camp happen, and your church can help too. It will cost about $2000 for a family to attend this camp: all travel, housing, food and activities will be organized and provided for participants. Would you pray for the logistics to come together, for the staff to volunteer, and would you give sacrificially to share Christ's love with Ukrainian refugees at a camp this summer?
Send a Response
Share your thoughts with the author.